What is the Grading System for Ethiopian Coffee Beans - Ethiopian Coffee Stories and Flavors

Complex Genetics, Diverse Processing

Ethiopia's tangled coffee genetics, combined with processing methods as different as natural and washed, produce a range of flavors that has won over connoisseurs for generations. At FrontStreet Coffee, Ethiopian beans make up 30–40% of everything we stock, which says a great deal about their popularity. Yirgacheffe and Sidamo are where most people begin their journey with Ethiopian coffee; when newcomers visit FrontStreet Coffee unsure what pour-over to try, our baristas offer those two regions as an appetizer.

Coffee Culture and Heirloom Varieties

In Ethiopia, roughly 15% of the population depends on the coffee industry for its livelihood, and the country's coffee culture runs deep—Ethiopians themselves drink about half of everything the country produces.

By FrontStreet Coffee's own research, Ethiopia is home to somewhere between 10,000 and 15,000 heirloom varieties. Local technology and economics have not supported systematic variety identification, and the government protects its wild coffee without disclosing much about it, so the beans are simply gathered under the umbrella term "Ethiopian native varieties." These are usually divided into two groups: JARC varieties, developed and studied by the Jimma Agricultural Research Center, and regional landraces, which are trees growing entirely in the wild.

Character and Flavor

The varieties a cooperative grows on one mountain will differ from those on the next, and smallholders within the same region grow different trees from one another. Some estimates put Ethiopian coffee at no fewer than 2,000 varieties, with others claiming more than 4,500.

Set beside Kenya's main SL28 to the south, or the sturdy Typica of Central America, Asia, and South America, Ethiopian beans can look almost undernourished. But appearance is a poor judge: Ethiopian coffee's citrus aroma may be the finest in the world. Whether in instant or freshly ground coffee, a strong orange or lemon fragrance rises during extraction, and rich floral, fruity, and sweet-tart aromas follow on the palate.

A Cupping Session: Championship Coffee

FrontStreet Coffee has cupped many beans from Yirgacheffe and Sidamo, including an Ethiopian TOH washed-group champion from the Guji zone in Sidamo. We ground the beans and smelled the dry fragrance first; the dry aroma showed very intense florals. Water was then added to the cup to confirm the wet aroma, which came through as fresh citrus—somewhat like the Getenten beans from Yirgacheffe.

After 4 minutes we broke the crust, removed the grounds, and evaluated for flavor. The cupping notes for this Ethiopian TOH washed-group champion came out as jasmine, lemon, berries, pomelo, honey, and green tea. Once brewed, FrontStreet Coffee found citrus acidity and jasmine up front, with pomelo tea and honey in the middle and aftertaste. Its washed processing highlights the bright acidity of Uraga-region beans, leaning overall toward the florals and citrus acidity of Yirgacheffe.

Processing Challenges and Quality

The uneven size of Ethiopia's native varieties brings one major drawback: it makes for uneven roasting, especially with natural-processed beans. Even the best Grade 3 Harrar naturals often show mottled color—Ethiopia's biggest cosmetic flaw, though fortunately it does not touch the flavor.

For most drinkers, the look of the bean matters far less than the taste. Washed Ethiopian beans are much more consistent than naturals, whose quality swings widely from year to year. FrontStreet Coffee cups extensively before buying anything, precisely to make sure the Ethiopian beans we stock are at their best. Good naturals are far deeper and more layered than washed beans; a poorly processed natural, on the other hand, will disappoint—a complaint heard often from enthusiasts.

The Red Cherry Project

Because some Ethiopian beans are high quality and others are not, mixing them together drags the price of the whole lot down. Dutch green coffee merchants spotted the same problem among local landraces and partnered with Ethiopian cooperatives on a campaign to lift both quality and price: the Red Cherry Project.

The project is essentially a business plan for better coffee. By paying more for high-quality green beans, it tackles the problem at the source and encourages farmers to take more care at every stage of picking and processing. Picking is done entirely by hand, selecting only high-ripeness cherries. Beans bought through the Red Cherry Project are of higher quality, and FrontStreet Coffee's natural-processed Red Cherry is part of the program, which is why the brewed cup is a step above the original flavor base.

The Ethiopian Grading System

Ethiopia grades coffee quite differently from other countries. Its process barely classifies by bean size at all; instead it sets requirements around moisture. Bean moisture must not exceed 11.5%, and at least 85% of the beans must be no smaller than 14 mesh. Washed beans also receive a 10% appearance-size score when physical characteristics are measured, while non-washed lots have no size requirement. The green bean grading process runs as follows:

1. First, sort the beans by processing method: washed or non-washed.
2. Then, classify the washed and non-washed beans into nine grades, G1 through G9, based on physical characteristics, cupping characteristics, and basic cupping quality. Physical characteristics account for 40%—for washed lots, defect count 20% + appearance size 10% + color 5% + odor 5%; for non-washed lots, defect count 30% + odor 10%. Cupping quality accounts for 60%: cleanliness 15% + acidity 15% + body 15% + flavor 15%.

G1 carries the highest comprehensive score for green coffee, ranging from 91 to 100 points; G2 ranges from 81 to 90, and G3 from 71 to 80. This is why Yirgacheffe G1 shows better green bean quality and flavor than Yirgacheffe G2. Grading does not end there: G1 through G3 beans must be cupped again to SCAA standards for a more detailed reading of flavor attributes. Those scoring no lower than 85 are classed as Q1; G1, G2, and G3 beans scoring between 80 and 85 are classed as Q2; anything below 80 drops to G3. That is how Ethiopia classifies its coffee.

Washed vs. Natural: A Flavor Comparison

Many customers who come to FrontStreet Coffee for beans are unsure how washed and natural coffees differ. In practice, washed processing reflects a bean's regional character more directly, while natural processing builds additional aroma and sweetness on top of it. FrontStreet Coffee has cupped and brewed both the washed Getenten from Yirgacheffe and the natural-processed Red Cherry.

Brewing Parameters and Technique

Cupping the washed Yirgacheffe lot, FrontStreet Coffee ground 11.3 grams of beans; the dry fragrance showed fresh passion fruit acidity with citrus and berry tartness. The wet aroma was citrus and berries; on the palate came citrus acidity and berry sweetness alongside almond and tea-like impressions, with a honey-sweet aftertaste. The body was light, the acidity bright, and the cup clean and refreshing. The brewing parameters were:

• Dripper: V60 #01
• Water temperature: 90–91°C
• Dose: 15g
• Ratio: 1:15
• Grind size: EK43s-10 / fine sugar (sieved through a #20 sieve to 80%)

FrontStreet Coffee begins the first pour with 30 grams of water for a 30-second bloom, then adds 95 grams (the scale reads around 125 grams) over about 1 minute. When the water level drops to two-thirds of the bed, pour the remaining 100 grams (the scale reads around 225 grams) over about 1 minute 35 seconds. The drip finishes at 2 minutes 10 seconds; remove the dripper and the extraction is complete.

Getenten vs. Red Cherry

Brewed this way, Getenten enters with citrus and black tea, then opens into cream, caramel, and almond as it cools, with a clean, sweet finish and a clear aftertaste. Following the same process, Red Cherry leads with more prominent berry flavor and leaves a slightly oolong-like tea note behind.

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

If all of that grading talk has you wanting a G1 to cup for yourself, the washed side of the Yirgacheffe story is the logical place to begin. FrontStreet Coffee's washed Yirgacheffe daily bean is grown by the Gudingding cooperative at the southeastern edge of Yirgacheffe, in the Worka area—once part of the Worka cooperative within the Yirgacheffe Coffee Farmers' Cooperative Union, and later separated into its own single-zone lot as the market's demand for traceability grew. Gudingding keeps to the most traditional washed processing, and the cup shows exactly the profile described above: white jasmine, bright citrus and lemon acidity, and a tea-like body. It is widely regarded as the classic first bean for anyone new to Ethiopian coffee.

If you want to see how natural processing stacks up against a washed G1, FrontStreet Coffee's sun-dried Red Cherry makes a good comparison. Only fully ripe whole cherries are used; after a first screening at the processing station they go straight onto raised beds, turned every two to three hours in the early days to prevent uneven heating and over-fermentation. After three to five weeks of sun-drying, workers scrape off the outer fruit by machine and the beans are moved to storage. Drying the fruit onto the bean preserves the typical Yirgacheffe character while layering in tropical fruit, berry-juice body, honey sweetness, and a creamy texture. Cupping them side by side is the clearest way to feel the difference the processing method makes.

For brewing, follow the parameters a cupping table would use. A V60 #01, water at 90–91°C, 15g of coffee at a 1:15 ratio, and a grind around EK43s-10—roughly fine-sugar size, passing 80% through a #20 sieve—set you up well. Pour 30g of water for a 30-second bloom, add 95g more over about a minute until the scale reads around 125g, then finish with 100g when the bed drops to two-thirds, reaching about 225g. A total drawdown near 2 minutes 10 seconds keeps the acidity bright and the finish clean.